Hydraulically operated stock reel



Jan. 12, 1965 R. D. NORDLOF ETAL 3,155,277

HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED STOCK REEL S Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 24, 1963 OHM! 1965 R. D. NORDLOF ETAL 3,165,277

HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED STOCK REEL 1965 R. D. NORDLOF ETAL 3,165,277

HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED STOCK REEL s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 24, 1963 UV FAIIL w) G .1 l5 5 6 6 /I/\\\ G x 1 3,165,277 HY DRAULICALLY ()PERATED STGQK REEL Richard D. Nordlof and Gary C. Rausch, Rockford, llll.,

assignors to Mechanical Tool 8: Engineering Co., Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed July 24, 1963, Ser. No. 297,259 15 Claims. (Cl. 242-7553) This invention relates to an hydraulically operated stock reel to be used in association with an adjoining machine which performs some operation on strip material which is unwound from or wound onto the reel. Such a machine, for example, might be a press.

The reel may be used on either side of a press, to unwind the stock from the reel for delivery to the press or to receive a strip of material from the press and rewind it on the reel. In' either operation, the application of hydraulic power to the reel to cause it to rotate is controlled automatically by the amount of slack in the loop of strip material extending between the reel and the adjacent machine which performs the operation. When the reel is unwinding and supplying strip material to the press faster than it is being used at the press, the amount of slack tends to become excessive and thus can lead to some difiiculties. It is then important to slow down or stop the rotation of the reel temporarily until the excess slack is taken up, and to resume the normal hydraulic operation of the reel when the amount of slack has been restored to what may be considered a normal operating condition. Whether the reel is winding or unwinding strip material, means is provided herein for automatically stopping and starting or modulating the rotation of the reel to maintain the amount of slack in the loop within desirable range.

The general object of the invention is to provide an hydraulically operated stock reel whose stopping and starting movements and speed of rotation are controlled automatically in accordance with the amount of slack of strip material extending in a loop between the reel and an adjacent machine on which operations are being performed on this strip material.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in the above described mechanism, controls which enable a heavily loaded reel to be stopped quickly when the control calls for the stopping of the reel.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic hydraulic stock reel apparatus capable of being used either for paying out strip material from the reel or for winding strip material onto the reel.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an apparatus having the foregoing advantages the addition of an automatically operated brake valve which functions to slow down a heavily loaded reel quickly, but not too abruptly when hydraulic power from the pump is suddenly cut oif.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be mentioned specifically hereinafter or will become apparent from a perusal of the following specification in which there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for the purpose of illustrating the nature of the invention and its mode of operation.

Referring now to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the stock feeder.

FIG. 2 is a vertical central sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 on a much larger scale.

FIG. 3 is a partial top plan view from the plane of line 7 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing a portion of the apparatus in horizontal section.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the vertical line 4 4 ofFIG.3.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the horizontal United States Patent 3,165,277 Patented Jan. 12, 1965 line 5-5 of FIG. 3 showing a sectional view of the electrically driven pump.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the manually operable flow reversing valve and hydraulic gear block taken on the vertical line 6-6 of FIG. 3, also on vertical line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view on vertical line 77 of FIG. 3 showing a portion of the reversing valve and an hydraulic brake valve, the latter in closed position.

FIG. 8 is an elevational view from the plane of the line 8-8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a schematic hydraulic flow diagram.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional View on the plane of line 10-10 of FIG. 2 showing the reversing valve in neutral position.

FIG. 11 is a central vertical cross sectional view of the flow reversing valve on a larger scale than that used in FIG. 2, showing the valve encased in a portion of the valve block.

The apparatus of the invention is best shown generally in FIGS. 1 and 2. The entire assembly is a compact unit supported on a single post 12 secured to a pedestal 13. One purpose of this simple support is to make it convenient for the users to move such a reel about on the floor in any position which will be convenient to deliver strip material to a press or to receive it from a press. The unit itself includes an integrally mounted electric motor 14 which normally continuously drives an hydraulic pump.

Turning next to the schematic flow diagram shown in FIG. 9, the electrically driven hydraulic pump is indicated as 15, and the hydraulic motor is indicated as 16 and 16'. A reservoir 17 is provided for storing the hydraulic fluid, and a reversing valve 18 is shown diagrammatically for delivering the fluid under pressure from the pump selectively to either side of the hydraulic motor, thus to cause the reel to wind or unwind, as the reel is directly driven by the hydraulic motor. As is conventional, the reservoir 17 has a vent to atmosphere (not shown).

As stated heretofore, the stopping and starting of the reel is controlled by the slack in the loop extending between the reel and an adjoining machine such as a press or the like. As is conventional, the press has a stock feed apparatus associated therewith which pushes or pulls the stock through the press, usually in step fashion, and at a rate correlated with the speed of operation of the press. A counterbalanced arm having a follower which rides on this strip actuates a control valve 19 and closes it when it is desired to deliver an operating pressure from the pump to the hydraulic motor. However, when too much slack is accumulated and it is desired to stop the reel, the arm falls and will open the control valve 19, which will enable the output of the pump to be recirculated directly back through duct 20 to the oil reservoir. A maximum pressure relief valve 21 is provided as shown to prevent too much pressure from building up in the system on the delivery side of the pump, and when this spring loaded valve is unseated, the oil under high pressure will feed back to the reservoir through the valve or past it, in accordance with the particular design of this valve.

A brake valve is provided to control the flow of fluid from the hydraulic motor 16, 16 back to the reservoir to provide a braking action for the stock reel when the control valve 19 opens. Whenever the pump is delivering fluid at a pressure sufficient to operate the hydraulic motor, this pump pressure will be imposed upon the brake valve to open the same. As shown herein, the brake valve is of the spool type which is slidable in a bore and includes a piston 22 on which the pump pressure is imposed, an intermediate shaft 23 and the valve member 24. The areas of the adjacent or inner faces on the piston 22 and valve member 24 are preferably made equal as best shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 so that the fluid pressure acting on these inner faces does not impose any axial thrust on the brake valve. Fluid underpressure from the pump is applied to the outer face of the piston member 22 in a manner described hereinafter to operate the brake valve. When the'pump pressure is adequate to operate the gear motor 16, the fluid pressure from the pump acting on the outer face of the piston member 24, moves the brake valve to the right from the position shown in FIG. 9, permitting the fluid discharge from the gear motor to flow around the shaft 23 and thence back into the fluid reservoir 17. However, whenever.

the control valve 19 fully opens and the fluid output of the pump 15 can be returned past the open valve 19 to the reservoir, the pump pressure on the head of the piston '22 fallsso low that the light-weight spring 25 will begin to close the valve 24'across the duct 26, eventually completely shutting. off that duct as shown in FIG. 9 and barring any further discharge of fluid from the gear motor to the reservoir.

The brakevalve thus serves the purpose of stopping the gear motor quickly, and since the gear motor is directly connected to the reel, the reel is brought rather quickly to a stop, however, not too abruptly due to the fact that there is some leakage through the teeth of the gear motor and some oil will leak throughthe working clearances between the brake valve 24 and the bore. If less braking action is desired, the clearance between the valve member 24 andthebore can be increased or a groove: or grooves cut in the periphery of the valve member 24 to increase the permissible leakage rate. Thus, while some slight overrun of the reel is permitted, it is held to a small amount as commensurate with avoiding the build up of excessive pressures and stresses.

However, as soon as the excess slack has been absorbed and the control valve is once more closed, the output pump pressure will rise and quickly again be imposed .on the end of the piston 22 causing the brake valve to open and permitthe gear motor to operate and again discharge its output into the reservoir, thus preventing any back pressure from developing on the discharge side of the gear motor.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the stock reelconsists of two opposed plates, an inner plate 31 which is secured permanently as by screws 32 and 33 to a yoke 34 which is secured by a pin 35to the hollow shaft 36, the shaft.

being keyed to the driven gear 16' of the hydraulic motor, as shown.

In accordance with conventional practice, the roll of strip material may be centered between the plates of the stock reel by means of three radially movable arms such as 42, one only being shown in'the drawing. As shown, an interiorally threaded collar 43 integral with the arm 42 is engaged with the exterior threads on a sleeve 44 whichis secured by pin 45 to a radially extending'rod 46 having its inner end engaged with the recess 47 in the yoke 43 and its outer portion rotatably supported in 'collar48 of-bracket 56, on one of a system of brackets, better shown in FIG. 1, there being one collar support such as .43 for each of the three radial rods 46, 49 andJSl.

In order to cause the three'arms such as 42 to expand radially to grip and center the roll of strip material in the reel, the hand crank 52 is pushed inwardly enough so that the fixed pin 53 in shaft 54 becomes engaged by a slot 55 in the hub 56 of the hand crank. Thereafter,

rotation of the crank will cause the reel adjusting shaft 54 to rotate. The bevel'gear 57 fixed by pin 57 is engaged with anotherbevel gear 58 keyed to sleeve 44, there being one such gear as 58 keyed to each sleeve corresponding to sleeve 4-4 pinned to each of the radial rods 46, 49 and 51. This enables the operator to rotate thethreaded sleeve 44 and a corresponding sleeve for each of the other radial rods, whereupon the three arms such as 42 will be moved radiallyoutwardlyto grip the coil of strip material and center it on the reeL' After the arms 42 have been expanded, the hand crank 52 is released from its operating position by means ,of the spring 59. Subsequentlygthe frame of the reel may then be rotated by the gear motor through the hollow shaft 36 and yoke 34.

In view of the fact that the schematic flow diagram clearly shows the various ducts which extend through the gear block 61 and shows the functionalrelation of these ducts with the several valves, with the ,gear pump and with the gear motor, no attempt will be made herein to show where all of. these ducts actually are or may be placed within the gear block, inasmuch as theycould be drilled or cast in various positions to suit the convenience of the builder of the device. l

The gear pump may be a conventional gear pump having a motor driven gear 62 and an idler gear '63 70. The, reversing valve is advantageously arranged to bypass the pump discharge back to the reservoir, when this valve is in the neutral position. As shown in FIGS. 3, 6 and 10, the arcuate recesses 69 'and70 respectively register with the ducts 65' and 71 andthe ducts 72 and 73 are formed with enlarged ends shapedto communicafe with both recesses 69 and 70, when the valve is in its neutral position. Thus, the pump discharge flowing from duct 65 passes from recess69 into recess 70 and out through duct. 71 back to the reservoir 17. However, when the valve is rotated 45 in one direction or the other, from this neutral position, for example, clockwise with reference to FIG. l0,the recess 69 Will then connect only the two ducts 65 and 73, while the'recess 70 will connectonly the ducts 71 and 72. 'Thereupon the fluid delivered by the pump will be conducted to the gear motor, to drive the same, and the output discharge of the gear motor will then flow through duct 72 through the recess 70 in the reversing valve, thence through duct 71 to the reservoir 17. The reversing valve 18 may be employed to cause the gear motor to rotate in the opposite direction by turning the valve so that recess 69 will connect ducts 65 and 72, while recess 70 connects ducts 71 and 73. i

The counterbalanced valve control arm 74 carries on position in aperture 77 of pin 78 by means of a knurled interiorly threaded collar 79 (see FIG. 3).

' The pin itself is rotatably supported on a bracket 81 extending upwardly at an angle from the small valve block 82 which is suitably affixed upon the top'of the 'gearbox 61.- One end of pin 78 is clamped by the knurled screw 83 in the split end of a rockable lever 84, which is pivotally connected by pin 85 toa link 86, the latter being pivotally connected to the top of the control valve 19 by pin87. An O-ring sfilprovides a seal at the juncture of the valve block 82 and the gear block 61.

The. control valve includes the elongatedpreferably tapered pin 19 and an orifice into which the pin moves during the valve closing operation; While a tightly seating valve might be employed, the form shownis preferred as it results in a gradual increaseof pump pressure as the rockable lever 84 moves the valve pin into the'orifice and being withdrawn. By varying the effective pump output pressure, the speed of rotation of the hydraulic motor, and hence the speed of the reel may be varied, all under the control of the mechanism, such as the arm74 and roller 76, which detects the slack loop in the stock. The relative shape and size or" the orifice and valve 19 may be varied as desired to achieve various speed modulation effects. However, the valve is preferably formed in a manner described hereinafter, to throttle the flow through the valve generally in-proportion to the movement of the valve between its fully open and its full throttling position. As the valve 19 opens, more and more of the pump discharge is bypassed back to the reservoir and, when the valve 19 is fully opened, the pressure at the outlet of the pump 15 is reduced to a very-low value. Under these conditions, there is insufficient pressure to drive the hydraulic motor 16, 16'. In addition, the pressure on the piston 22 of the brake valve is lowered below the pressure of spring 25 and the valve 24 closes, thereby blocking discharge from the hydraulic motor 16, 16 and causing the motor and reel to quickly come to a full stop. Conversely, when the arm 74 moves the valve in a direction to close the same, the pressure at the outlet of the pump 15, and hence the pressure at the inlet of the hydraulic motor 16, 16' and at the piston 22 of the brake valve increases. When the pressure in passage 65 rises significantly above the pressure in reservoir 17, it tends to drive the hyraulic motor 16, 16 and reel at a speed correlative with the pressure in passage 65 and also moves the brake valve 24 to its open position to allow return of fluid from the hydraulic motor to the reservoir.

The reversing valve 18 is provided to enable operation of the reel in either direction. The reversing valve shown is of the rotary face-seating type and the pressures at the valve ports at the underside of the valve member tend to move the valve member away from its seat. The pressure at the inlet and outlet ports connected to passages 65 and 71 varies widely under different operating conditions and provision is made for automatically maintaining the fluid pressure at the upper side of the reversing valve at a value suflicient to prevent unseating of the valve member. Thus, the pressure at the inlet port connected to passage 65 will vary from substantially atmospheric pressure, when the valve 19 is open, to full pump discharge pressure, when the valve 19 is closed. Further, the pressure at the outlet port connected to passage 71 will vary from substantially atmospheric pressure, when the brake valve 24 is open, to a very high pressure, when the brake valve is closed and the motor 16, 16' tends to overrun and operate as a pump. Obviously, unseating of the reversing valve during braking, that is when the brake valve 24 is closed and the motor 16, 16' tends to overrun, would allow uncontrolled escape of fluid from the outlet of the motor 16, 16 and impede rapid braking action. In order to overcome unseating of the rotary reversing valve, a dual check valve arrangement is provided for passing fluid to the recess above the rotary valve from either passage 65 or 71, whichever is the higher. This dual checkvalve is conveniently incorporated in the reversing valve.

As best shown in FIG. 11, the reversing valve member has passages 92 and 93 formed therein which respectively pass fluid from valve chambers 69 and 70 into the recess 91 above the rotary valve member. A thin resilient disk 89 overlies the top of the valve member and is conveniently retained in position thereon by an offset rim 91a on the body 82. The disk functions as a dual check valve which normally closes passages 92 and 93 to prevent flow from the recess 91- to the passages 65 and 71, but which opens to allow fluid to flow from either passage 65 or 71 into the recess 91. Thus, whenever the pressure in either passage 65 or 71 builds up higher than the pressure in the recess 91, the disk will unseat in the region adjacent the high pressure passage and allow fluid from the high pressure passage to enter the recess 91 and pressure load the valve member against its seat. Of course, the pressure in the recess 91 will gradually bleed off, due to leakage across the mating face of the valve and its seat. However, the check valve will reopen when the pressure in the recess drops below the highest pressure in either passage 65 or 71.

The stock reel is advantageously adapted for use to either unwind stock or to rewind stock on the reel. For this purpose, the operating mechanism for the valve 19 is arranged so that it can be preset to eflect closing movement of the valve 19 either in response to a preselected upward movement of the arm 74, to maintain a slack loop during unwinding of stock, or to effect closing movement of the valve 19 in response to a preselected downward movement of the arm 74, to maintain a slack loop during winding of stock on the reel. This is achieved by mounting the pivot pin 78 of the arm 74 so that the pivot axis of the arm can be located either at one side of the axis of valve 19 as shown in FIG. 4, for stock unwinding operation, or at the other side of the axis of valve 19, as shown in solid lines in FIG. 8, for stock rewinding operation.

T A simple arrangement for shiftably supporting the pivot pin 78 of arm 74 is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 8. The bracket 81, which supports the operating mechanism for the control valve 19, is secured to the side of valve block 82 by means of a cap screw 94 at a point that substantially intersects the axis of the valve 19. The inner face of the bracket is provided with a short pin 94a (FIG. 3) which may be entered into either one of two apertures 95 or 96 (FIG. 8), depending on whether the bracket is to be positioned in one or the other of the two inclined positions for it as shown in FIG. 8. As will be noted, the inner end of the valve 19 is exposed to substantially atmospheric pressure since it communicates through passage 20 with the reservoir 17. The outer or upper end of the valve 19 is also exposed to atmospheric pressure and, consequently, there is no significant axial fluid pressure unbalance on the valve 19. The valve member 19 can therefore be readily moved under the control of the counterbalanced control arm 19. In order to drive the hydraulic motor 16, 16 at a speed generally in proportion to the movement of the valve 19 between its fully open and its full throttling position, it is necessary to shape the valve member and its seat so that the flow area therebetween progressively decreases as the valve member moves toward its closed position. While this could be achieved by forming a progressive taper on the end of the valve member, such a progressive taper is difiicult to machine. It is more convenient .to chamfer the lower end of the valve member as indicated at 97 and to grind or otherwise form two or more tapered flats 98 and 99 on different sides of the valve member, which tapered flats are selected so that the flow area between the valve member 19 and its seat decreases approximately in proportion to the movement of the valve member toward its seated position. Thus, at the one-half or mid position of the valve member, the flow area is decreased to approximately one-half, etc. It is not essential that the valve member 19 completely shut off all flow therepast when in its full throttling position, so long as it throttles the flow suflicient to allow the pressure at the outlet of the pump .15 to build up to the maximum pressure desired for-operating the pump. The relief valve 21 is set to open when the pump pressure reaches this maximum operating pressure and any small flow which occurs past the valve 19 whenthe latter is in its full throttling position merely reduces the amount of fluid thatmust be by-passed by the relief valve. I I In the operation of the apparatus, a coil of strip material is mounted, on the reel and aligned with the press feed. The stock control arm rests on the stock between the reel and the press. As the feed demands stock, the slack is taken up. This raises the control arm which operates the control valve. Stock is payed out as needed. The operation is smooth because hydraulic power is automatically controlled in proportion to demand by the press feed. The reel can be operated on either side of a press. To change the direction of rotation, move the reversing valve 90. The reel can be converted to rewind merely by changing the position of the pivot bracket 81 and the rocker arm or lever 84. The pivot position determines whether the reel is caused to rotate on the rise or fall of the control arm. For pay out, the reel rotates when the control arm is raised. For rewind, the reelrotateswhen the control arm is lowered.

To use thereel to impose a tension on the stock, the

of operation, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but embraces such variations and modifications as fall withinthe scope of the claims ap pended hereto.

Having shown and described the invention, we claim:

1. In an hydraulically operated stock reel assembly, an hydraulic motor, a stock reel driven by said rnotor, normally operating with a slack loop extending to an adjoining production machine, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven continuously by the electric motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, means including duct means and a manually operable flow reversing valve interposed in said duct means adapted for delivering the fluid output of the pump selectively to the hydraulic motor for driving the latter in either of two directions of rotation, a fluid reservoir connected to the inlet of the pump, a bypass duct connecting theoutlet of the pump with the reservoir, a control valve in said duct, and means connected with said control valve ac,- tuated by said loop for operating said control valve adapted for varying the fluid flow through said by pass duct.

2-. In an hydraulically operated stock reel, an hydraulic pump normally continuously driven and having an intake and an outlet, an hydraulic motor, duct means for delivering the fluid output'of the pump to said motor for driving the latter, a stock reel for strip material di-.

rectly driven by said motor and normally operating with a slack loop of strip material extending to an adjoin ing production machine, a fluid reservoir connected with the intake of the pump, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with said reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, and means responsive to the slack in said loop adapted for operating .said'valve.

3. In an hydraulically operated stock reel, an hydraulic pump normally continuously driven and having an intake and an outlet, an hydraulic motor, a fluid resera voir connected with the intake of the pump,duct means for delivering the fluid output of the pump to said motor and an hydraulic motor driven by thepump, said, pump having an intake and an outlet, a stock reel for storing strip material and normally operating with a slack loop of strip material extendingto an adjoining machine, a shaft in said casing fixedly connected to the stock reel and positively driven by the hydraulic motor, anelectric motor connected for normally driving said pump continuously, a fluid reservoir in said assembly connected with the intake of said pump, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with the reservoir, a control valve in said by-pass duct, and means connected with said control valve responsive to various'relative amounts of slack in said loop for controlling the operationof said valve for varying the effective output pressure of the pump.

5. In an hydraulically operated stock reel-assembly, a

reservoir, an electric motor, an hydraulic pump normally continuously driven at constant speed by said electric motor a pump inlet duct connecting the reservoir and the pump, an hydraulic motor, a stock reel directly driven by the hydraulic motor and normally operating with a v slackloop'of strip material extending to an adjoining for driving the latter, a discharge duct for delivering the fluid discharge of the motor to said reservoir, a brake: valve adapted for closing and opening said discharge duct, means imposing the output pump pressure upon said brakevalve adapted 'to open and hold open the valve when said outputpump pressure exceeds a predetermined pressure, means for closing said brakeyalve upon a reduction of the pump outlet pressure below said predetermined pressure, a stock reel positively driven by said motor and normally operating with a slack loop of strip material extending to an adjoining machine,

a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of-the pump with said reservoir, a control valve interposed in said bypass duct, and means responsive to the slack in said loop adapted foroperating said control valve.

4. In'an hydraulically operated stock reel, a baseand apost supportedthereon,anihydrauiic casing assembly supported on the post and containing an hydraulic pump pressure.

machine, duct means connected for delivering the fluid discharge of said pump to said hydraulic motor and from the latter to said reservoir, a by-pass duct and a valve therein for controllably delivering the fluid discharge'of the pump directly to the reservoir by-passing the hydraulic motor,1 means responsive to the position of the slack in said loop adapted formodulating said valve to vary the effective pump output pressure on said hydraulic motor for varying the speed of the latter.

6. In combination, a stock reel'adaptedfor normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor conected with thelreelfor driving the same, an electric motorand an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor having first .and second ports, a fluid-reservoir connected to said pump inlet, afirst'passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports and a second ;-pas sage means for connecting the other of. said ports of the hydraulic motor with the reservoir, a brake valve in said second passage means having means responsive to a predetermined pump output pressure for opening said valve, means for closingsaid brake valve upon a reduction of the pump output presure below .said predetermined pressure, the valve upon closing being adapted to stop the hydraulic motor, a bypass duct connecting the outlet of the pumpwith said reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, and means responsive to the slack in said loop adapted to operate the control valveto unload the pump outlet pressure ;-through the bypass duct to a pressure below said predetermined 7. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motorconnected with. the reel for driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor. having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for-connecting the pump outlet with one ofsaid ports and a second passagemeans for connecting the other of said ports of the hydraulic motor with the reservoir, a brake: valve in said secondpassage means having means responsive to apredeterminedpump output pressure for opening said valve, means for closing said brake valve upon a reduction 'ofthe pump output loop adapted for modulating said control valvefor vary- 9 ing the eflective pump output pressure for varying the speed of rotation of said hydraulic motor.

8. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor connected with the reel for driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports and a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports of the hydraulic motor With the reservoir, a brake valve in said second passage means having means responsive to a predetermined pump output pressure for opening said valve, means for closing said brake valve upon a reduction of the pump output pressure below said predetermined pressure, the valve upon closing being adapted to stop the hydraulic motor, a bypass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with said reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, and means connected with said control valve and actuated by said loop for operating said valve adapted to regulate the fluid flow through the by-pass duct for varying the effective output pressure of the pump and thereby regulating the speed of said hydraulic motor.

9. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor connected to the reel for driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports and a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports of the hydraulic motor with the reservoir, a brake valve in said second passage means having means responsive to a predetermined pump outlet pressure imposed thereon for opening said valve, spring means for closing said valve upon a reduction of said pressure below said predetermined pressure, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with the reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, and means responsive to the slack in said loop adapted to operate the control valve to unload the pump outlet pressure through the bypass duct to a pressure below said predetermined pressure.

10. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor connected to the reel for driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a-fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports and a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports of the hydraulic motor with the reservoir, a brake valve in said second passage means having means responsive to a predetermined pump output pressure imposed thereon for opening said valve, spring means for closing said valve upon a reduction of said pressure below said predetermined pressure, a bypass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with the reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, and means connected with said control valve and actuated by said loop for operating said valve adapted to regulate the fluid flow through the by-pass duct for varying the effective output pressure of the pump and thereby regulating the speed of said hydraulic motor.

11. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating With a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor connected to the reel for driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven thereby and adapted for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and an outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports and a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports of the hydraulic motor with the reservoir, a brake valve in said second passage means having means responsive to a predetermined pump outletpressure imposed thereon for opening said valve, spring means for closing said valve upon a reduction of said pressure below said predetermined pressure, a bypass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with the reservoir, a control valve interposed in said by-pass duct, an arm connected to said control valve for operating the valve, and a stock follower mounted on the arm adapted for riding on said loop and rising and falling responsive to the amount of slack in said loop thereby actuating the arm to operate the valve.

12. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor directly connected to the reel for positively driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven at constant speed thereby and adapted for producing output pressures effective for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports, a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports to said reservoir, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with said reservoir, a pump pressure unloading valve controlling the flow of fluid through said duct having an orifice and a valve element coacting with the orifice during a substantial motion relative thereto adapted to modulate the pump output pressure from full normal eifective pressure gradually down to less than a pressure eflective for driving the hydraulic motor, a pivotally supported lever connected to said valve element, an arm connected to the lever for rocking the same, and a stock follower mounted on the arm adapted for riding on the loop and rising and falling responsive to the amount of slack in the loop thereby actuating the arm to operate said unloading valve.

13. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor directly connected to the reel for positively driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven at constant speed thereby and adapted for producing output pressures effective for driving thehydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and outlet, said hydraulic motor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet With one of said ports, a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports to said reservoir, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with said reservoir, a pump pressure unloading valve controlling the flow of fluid through said duct having an orifice and an elongated valve element movable linearly into said orifice and adapted to modulate the pump output pressure from full normal effective pressure gradually down to less than a pressure effective for driving the hydraulic motor, a pivotally supported lever connected to said valve element, an arm connected to the lever for rocking the same, and a stock follower mounted on the arm adapted for riding on the loop and rising and falling responsive to the amount of slack in the loop thereby actuating the arm to operate said unloading valve.

14. In combination, a stock reel adapted for normally operating with a slack loop extending therefrom to an adjoining production machine, an hydraulic motor directly connected to the reel for positively driving the same, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump driven at constant speed thereby and adapted for producing output pressures effective for driving the hydraulic motor, said pump having an inlet and outlet, said hydraulicmotor having first and second ports, a fluid reservoir connected to said pump inlet, a first passage means for connecting the pump outlet with one of said ports, a second passage means for connecting the other of said ports to said reservoir, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the pump with said reservoir, a pump pressure unloading valve controlling the flow of fluid through said duct having an orifice and anelongated valve element movable linearly into said orifice and adapted to modulate the pump output pressure from full normal effective pressure gradually down to less than a pressure effective for driving the hydraulic motor, a pivotally supported leverconnected to said valve element, an arm connected to thelever for rocking the same, a stock follower mounted on the arm adapted for riding on the loop and rising and falling responsive to theamount of slack in the loop thereby actuating the arm to operate said unloading valve, and means for pivotally supporting the lever selectively at either of two separated positions relatively to the valve to cause the downward movement of the follower, in one position ofthe pivot means, to unload the pump pressure and in the other. position to increase the pump pressure.

15. In an hydraulically operated stock reel assembly, an hydraulic motor having inlet and outlet-passages, a stock reel operatively connected to said motor and normally operating with a slack stock loop extending to an adjacent production machine, an electric motor and an hydraulic pump drivingly connected to the electric motor outlet passage; second and third .ports connected to said inlet and outlet passages of said hydraulic motor; and a fourth port, a dischargeduct connecting said fourth port to said reservoir, saidfiow reversing valve including a rotary valve member having a face on oneside thereof cooperable with said ported face and having valve passages therein operative in one rotary position of said valve member to communicate said first port with said second port and said third port with said fourth port to drive the motor in one direction and operative in a second rotary position thereof to communicate said first port with said third port and said second port with said fourth port to drive the hydraulic motor in the opposite direction, means including check valve means for applying fiuid pressure to the other side of said valve member frorn'said first and fourth ports to hold said valve member against the ported face on the valve body, a by-pass duct connecting the outlet of the purnpwith thereservoir, a control valve in said by-pass duct, means responsive to the slack in said loop for operating the control valve to unload the pump'outlet pressure through the by-pass duct, a brake valve in said discharge duct for controlling flow therethr ough, and means operative in response to a reduction in the pressure at the outlet of said pump below a preselected value for closing said brake valve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/30 Oehmichen 242 75.5

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN HYDRAULICALLY OPERATED STOCK REEL ASSEMBLY, AN HYDRAULIC MOTOR, A STOCK REEL DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR, NORMALLY OPERATING WITH A SLACK LOOP EXTENDING TO AN ADJOINING PRODUCTION MACHINE, AN ELECTRIC MOTOR AND AN HYDRAULIC PUMP DRIVEN CONTINUOUSLY BY THE ELECTRIC MOTOR, SAID PUMP HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET, MEANS INCLUDING DUCT MEANS AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE FLOW REVERSING VALVE INTERPOSED IN SAID DUCT MEANS ADAPTED FOR DELIVERING THE FLUID OUTPUT OF THE PUMP SELECTIVELY TO THE HYDRAULIC MOTOR FOR DRIVING THE LATTER IN EITHER OF TWO DIRECTIONS OF ROTATION, A FLUID RESERVOIR CONNECTED TO THE INLET OF THE PUMP, A BY-PASS DUCT CONNECTING THE OUTLET OF THE PUMP WITH THE RESERVOIR, A CONTROL VALVE IN SAID DUCT, AND MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID CONTROL VALVE ACTUATED BY SAID LOOP FOR OPERATING SAID CONTROL VALVE ADAPTED FOR VARYING THE FLUID FLOW THROUGH SAID BY-PASS 